Wednesday, November 09, 2005

My freind, Randall, is displaying some of his artwork on his website: The Art of Randy McDermit Most of his pieces are highly emotional figure studies done on large canvas with acrylic. On his site, you will also find a coupla charcoal and pastel pieces. i have also seen many smaller pen & ink drawings that are both bold and delicate.Randy tells me he hasn't updated in a while, so maybe he'll put some more work in that space soon. The pieces on his site are representative of the body of work that i have seen at shows, around town, and all around his own home.The most striking feature of Randy's paintings is his use of geometric blocks of color to emote the fractious, tormented souls of his subjects. The juxtaposition of warm and cool hues throughout the composition stresses the more emotive details of the figure as the rest commingles with the background, effectively creating a sense that the confusion of the subject is casued by, or part of, her surroundings. Or is it the other way around? Is the inner turmoil manifesting itself as chaos in her outer world?On some of Randy's more abstract pieces, it's difficult to tell if the figure is emerging from the tumult or receding into it. Your interpretation will vary, depending on your current state of mind, and that is one of the reasons i think Randy's work is so successful. Although the figures may appear dispondent at this moment, Randy's careful and measured choices of color and composition effectively create a palpable sense of desperation as the subject reaches a tipping point. This is where Randy's talent is best displayed, and the efficacy of his work hits you as it captures the subject in that moment of inner peace as disorder swirls about them. It is left to the observer to decide whether the figure will maintain the placidity of the moment and emerge from dispair, or surrender and fade into the discordant milieu. More photos of Randy's work are on display here on his website. If you would like to contact Randy and perhaps purchase a painting or two (x-mas is right around the corner!) please let me know. You can email me (most of you know my contact info), or leave a comment by clicking on "comments" on his website or mine..

Monday, November 07, 2005

Vice President continues to pressure congress to allow CIA, Dept. of Def. to torture detainees. John McCain, other Senators resist because they know torture is immoral, illegal, and bad for America.

"Just last week, Cheney showed up at a Republican senatorial luncheon to lobby lawmakers for a CIA exemption to an amendment by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) that would ban torture and inhumane treatment of prisoners. The exemption would cover the CIA's covert "black sites" in several Eastern European democracies and other countries where key al Qaeda captives are being kept."

McCain vows to add anti-torture amendment to every bill: "He vowed today that his measure would be 'on every vehicle that goes through this body' until it's enacted into law. 'It's not going away,' he said on the Senate floor. 'This issue is incredibly harmful to the United States of America and our image throughout the world.'" Hooray for John McCain, hooray for American values. Dick "Torquemada" Chaney and his apologists should be ashamed of themselves.

"When I Die" will be shown Saturday at the Starz Denver International Film Festival. The hour-long movie depicts the creation of the 15-story tower that was used to blast Hunter S. Thompson's ashes into the sky at a closed memorial service on his Woody Creek property in August." Cool.

The Family Guy took on the FCC last night. Did anybody watch? i missed it, was watching the Redskins beat the Eagles. Related: T.O. out of Philly. Ok, who wants a belligerent man-baby on their team? Any takers?.......anyone? The sad thing is, somebody's gonna pick him up, and that somebody's gonna regret it very soon after.

TV tonight: Don't miss the return of Arrested Development on Fox. It's the best show on TV (standard disclaimer: besides The Simpsons). Yay! Thanks to DTS for the heads up on that one.